The invention herein relates to a low profile shunt system for implanting in the body to enable the transfer of body fluids.
Shunt systems for drainage of unwanted body fluids from one region of the body to another region are generally known. A well-known usage of such shunt systems is in the treatment of hydrocephalus, wherein excess cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is drained from the ventricles of the brain to either the right atrium or the peritoneum. A known example of such a system is shown in Rudolf R. Schulte, U.S. Pat. No. 3,111,125, issued Nov. 19, 1963 entitled "Drainage Device." Another such device is disclosed in Alan J. Mishler, U.S. Pat. No. 3,595,240 and still another system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,827,439 to Rudolf R. Schulte and Harold D. Portnoy.
The above described devices are often implanted under the skin and connected to a ventricle drainage tube in the brain. The devices are also attached to a catheter which is inserted into the right atrium of the heart or into the peritoneum. After implantation and use over extended time periods, such devices tend to become clogged in certain individuals. Such clogging tends to occur at the catheter or passageway from the ventricle of the brain leading into inner chambers of the devices due to foreign materials which collect in the narrow tubular passageways of the devices and at the openings in such passageways to the drain. Consequently, it is often necessary to perform second or subsequent operations on an individual to remove devices which have become clogged. Some of the devices provide means for flushing the devices. However, usually the flushing devices have a relatively high profile such that long periods of implant are difficult to tolerate by the patient due to skin erosion, such as can occur with premature infants, pediatric patients and older patients. In addition, the flushing of some of such devices is difficult and sometimes futile. The inconvenience, cost, and physical and psychological problems involved in performing the additional operations and in using the relatively high profile shunting systems are considerable and undesirable.